The Pond
by magicalhogwarts
Summary: James finds Lily out by a pond, where he comforts her. She realizes that he isn't as bad as she thought he was. One-shot, please review!


A/N: Hey guys! So this is my first fanfic! Please review! It only helps me get better! :)

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The crisp autumn leaves rustled beneath Lily's feet as she lay in the grass. It was the beginning of seventh year.

Lily was awarded the prestigious position of Head Girl. Much to her disbelief, James Potter was chosen as Head Boy. But they agreed to act civil to one another; and Lily was actually beginning to enjoy his company. Maybe James was not as bad as she thought.

Lily was lying in the grass because of one reason: it was what she did when she needed time to think. Her friends knew when Lily was gone, she was either at the library with her nose buried in a book, or by the pond. She had actually discovered the pond with Severus, but only she visited it now.

She love the way the pond was always so peaceful. There was a family of fish who lived in the pond. Lily loved the way the pond rippled its small waves, and how clear it was. She would often bring crumbs from dinner to the pond to feed the family of fish. Lily was a very caring person, and always looked out for anybody; big or small.

She heard the crunching of leaves and turned to find the noise-maker was none other than James Potter. His hair looked windswept from the autumn day. His glasses were crooked, and as it was Saturday, he wore a smooth white button down shirt and jeans. He gave her a little smile, as if asking her if he could sit. She nodded, and returned her green eyes back to the calming pond.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before James spoke up.

"I noticed that you weren't at breakfast today. Marlene told me you ought to be here, so I brought you a muffin."

He pushed the blueberry muffin in her direction. She shook her head, red locks of hair spread across her shoulder.

"Come on, Lils, it's blueberry, you're-"

Lily grabbed the muffin hungrily. Blueberry muffins were her absolute favourite type of muffin.

James chuckled as Lily ate the muffin. She uttered a small 'thank you' and returned to nibbling on the muffin. It was true; she had missed breakfast. But whenever she had a lot on her mind, she usually skipped a meal and went straight out to the pond.

Once Lily had finished, she picked the crumbs off her napkin (and some off her jacket) and tossed them in the pond. A fish popped its head it and ate the crumb.

James smiled; only Lily would be feeding fish, thinking of even the smallest of animals in need.

"It's beautiful," James whispered. Lily looked to her left to find James staring into the pond.

"It is."

"Lily, what's wrong? I know we aren't exactly best friends but I can tell when something is wrong. And something is wrong. And I know you always come to this pond when something is bothering you. I'm not going to give it up; I'm a persistent fellow, if you haven't noticed."

Lily smiled at this. James was extremely persistent when it came to prying things out of people. He always could get Lily to say what was on her mind. But Lily knew she could trust James. He brought a sense of comfort towards her.

"Well, you know my sister?" James nodded.

Everyone had heard of the infamous Petunia Evans.

"She's getting married to Vermin-I mean, Vernon." James laughed.

Lily made a good description of Vernon the first time she talked about him to James. She said he was a big as a whale and about as funny as a dead one.

"What's so bad about that?"

"James, she didn't invite me to her wedding. She hasn't even told Vernon what I am. I don't think she ever will and it makes me upset that she won't even _tolerate_ her own sister."

"Come off it Lily. I know Petunia is a little, er, _high maintenance_, but that shouldn't stop the two of you from getting along. You are sisters!"

Lily turned to look at him, with teary eyes.

"Just because we are family doesn't mean we get along."

She looked out past the pond into the forest. She couldn't cry in front of James. She couldn't be weak about this.

"What about your parents? What do they think of this?"

"They just want us to get along like we used to, but we can't. There isn't much hope in this situation."

"Lily, I'm so sorry," James whispered, as he put Lily in his arms as she cried. She wiped her nose on James' shirt and James just smiled. He didn't mind; he hated Lily to be like this.

"Oh, I'm such a mess. I hate to cry in front of you. But thank you."

"Lily, as long as I've known you, you've only thought of others. Only others. And you're so bloody nice to everybody. It's sickening, really. But sometimes you need to concentrate on your own life."

Lily released herself from James' grip.

"Thank you so much, James." And with that, she kissed him on the cheek. She kissed _James Potter_ on the cheek! Who would have ever guessed?

Who would have thought that after six years of despising James Potter, Lily Evans would have kissed him on the cheek and (almost) considered them friends?

James felt a blush coming on his cheek, and put his finger to where she had kissed him. She took his large hand into her smaller one. James could feel her skin against his. It was warm and as soft as butter.

Lily turned to face him; their faces were only a few inches apart. "Mr. Potter, I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

James grinned. "I believe so, Miss Evans."

They lay in silence by the pond, holding hands, both thinking about everything that was going on outside of Hogwarts. And they realized that being together was better than being alone in a time of need.

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So, what did you think? Good, bad, terrible, sweet? Please review, thank you so much!

_xxoo, Caroline_


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